Monday, July 25, 2011

Making room where there is none

The horse in the picture is on our property. The shed in the background is on the property belonging to the horse's owner; he has no pasture on his place. For a few years now, he has let Cliff use that pole barn for storage in exchange for pasture for his horse, Snickers. He'll soon be moving, which means Cliff will need to find a place for all the hay and implements now stored in that barn. The good side of this is that once that horse is gone August first, Cliff can plant some grass where horses have ruined that part of our pasture with overgrazing. Meanwhile, we're using our combined imaginations to carve some storage space out of nothing.

That far-right wing of the barn is where I milk my cow. Cliff built it for me back when I milked four or five cows, and each one had a stanchion in there. I used an old bucket milking machine back then. Now I only milk one cow, and I just milk her once or twice a week. For her, there's one stanchion at the far end of that wing. I told Cliff to leave me a third of that wing and take two-thirds for himself; so he's going to put a wall in there to keep the cold wind off me and my cow in winter, take out the door and window you see in the picture, and put one opening large enough to drive the John Deere through. In the open space to the left of that section, we've already taken out the old dog pen.

Then there's my cabin in the woods. At one time this was my getaway spot, because I got so fed up with people everywhere, here at the house. There were four people living in the rental trailer that is now gone, and kids running through the yard day and night. Every time I stepped out the door I had to report to somebody. I'm a loner, and when I told Cliff I wanted a cabin where my dog and I could spend an occasional peaceful night, he decided to make one out of somebody's old pool house. It was 2004. He and the twins, Travis and Tyler, fixed it up for me and moved it to the woods. We moved back here in the pasture over three years ago, and I find I have all the privacy, peace and quiet I need right here. WITH electricity, running water, a bathroom and air conditioning! I think I spent one night in the cabin last summer, but I haven't used it at all this year. So I offered it to Cliff. He can take the bed, shelves and table out of it and he'll have a place to put more of his stuff. I think we've even decided where we'll put it.

Right under that tree near the fence between us and a neighbor. It's far enough from the house that it won't look too unsightly, and yet close enough to Cliff's shop that it should be fairly handy for him.

8 comments:

You my dear are a better woman than me. If I had a cabin in the woods, ain't no way I'd give it up. Part of the barn, yes. The cabin, no. But I'm glad you have a solution to Cliff's storage problem and are willing to make such a sacrifice. He's a lucky man.

Since you no longer need the get away it sounds like a perfect solution. Things change and so do we so it's best to repurpose what is no longer needed. In a way I do that with lots of things here but on a much smaller level for sure. It beats having to buy or build something new that would cost a lot of money. I'm glad you enjoy your home now. Home a place that we all should like to be. Hope your Tuesday is a terrific one.

I must say, if you tried telling my Dad that you only milked a cow two or three times a week he'd have blown a gasket. We couldn't even be more than an hour off morning or night.I've thought about getting a milk cow again from time to time but I find that if I sit still for a bit my wits return.

I think I was sunk in my mini-depression or just coming out of it and that's how I missed this. I like the idea of having your own place, but now that you don't need it for solitude, it can revert to a storage shed. :)

I'll miss your cabin posts. But I'm glad your new location gives you the getaway time and place you needed. I retreat to the bedroom when I need some quiet. Sometimes I get as much as five whole minutes! ;)